Impact Analysis: AfDB Renewable Energy Grant

Impact Analysis: AfDB Renewable Energy Grant

Objectives

Our client intends to set up a 20MW biomass power plant in Gulu, Northern Uganda. The raw materials in the electricity generation process will be feed stock such as rice husks, groundnut hulls and eucalyptus trees.

Prior to commencing the feasibility study for the project, the client applied for a grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB). Before the grant could be approved, the client had to derive the potential impact of the project on job creation. Asigma Capital was approached to do this and objectives were set as follows:

Quantification of the impact of the 20 MW biomass plant on job creation.

Dis-aggregation of the jobs created by gender, youth, skilled and unskilled labor.

Rice husks will be one of the feed-stock raw materials.

Approach

This project required intensive research to derive assumptions and a baseline for estimation. Conservative estimates were obtained using the following approach:

Identification of the chain of activities involved in the entire project.

Breaking down activities into small units of work.

Estimating the direct number of jobs likely to be created from the units of work.

Estimating the indirect number of jobs.

Conclusive analysis of the overall potential impact of the project on job creation.

The move by AfDB to approve the grant has been applauded as a step in the right direction to scaling up private sector involvement in renewable energy, and providing clean energy to meet the increasing demand from both residential and commercial outlets.

Most of the jobs created will be directed towards the farming community.